Something a bit different for the MenShed team this week. We have started work crafting a pretty fancy outdoor chair from a wine barrel. The barrel itself was sourced from one of our regions great wineries. It was a team effort working shoulder to shoulder breaking the barrel down. The next job will be reshaping…

A steady steam of folk utilise the Wanaka Community Workshop in order to enhance their camper vans. Beds, cooking benches, storage areas and shelves are crafted using the Workshop’s tools and equipment. The period leading up to Christmas New Year and through the summer are particularly busy periods. Most folk are visitors to our region.…

We love working with other community groups. The Albert Town Community Orchard, located in the lower Lagoon Reserve and Templeton Park, features native plantings and fruit trees. Volunteers maintain the space, which includes a produce stall for sharing surplus fruit and vegetables.  Its a great example of communities supporting communities. Our MenShed team are currently…

Wastebusters and the Wanaka Community Workshop enjoy a great relationship. In many respects we complement each other. This week the MenShed team are putting the finishing touches on a table for staff at Wastebusters to enjoy their coffee. Originally dropped off at Wastebusters and refurbished with recycled timber at our Workshop its a small but…

With a range of community projects on the go, the MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop have been busy collecting building materials for reuse and upcycling. The bulk of these materials are donated from local businesses. We pick them up, cut the timber to size and then fabricate items from traps to play equipment,…

It’s great to see quality work. After a couple of weeks Henry has created a gem. A wooden jewellery box. Something special for someone special. Much of our work within the woodshop at the Wanaka Community Workshop are simple projects. They require design and fabrication but not craftmanship. Its great to see Henry turn that…

As the year moves toward its end, the Wanaka Community Workshop is awash with traps. Traps targeting stoats, rats and cats. Each has their unique design. In December more than 100 traps each built from recycled materials were completed by our MenShed team. Each will soon be out doing their job protecting our natural environment.…

Last week the Workshop had a sales table at the Aspiring Christmas Market. While a range of items sold the hot item were small wooden crates. So many crates were sold the team gathered back at the Workshop to fulfill orders. It was great standing alongside other volunteers who also attended the market on behalf…

The MenShed team from Wanaka Community Workshop recently took the opportunity to catch up with members of the Hawea MenShed. We loved hearing about how the Hawea Shed works and shared our own stories. The Hawea MenShed play a significant role in supporting the community across Lake Hawea and Hawea Flat. They create their products…

We love seeing kids having some fun and enjoying stuff created at the Workshop. Under the guidance of local artist Chrissy Wickes over recent weeks kids have applied their skills to create something special – vibrancy and colour. We love it. We aim to keep the stools for use at the workshop – something practical,…

Tools and equipment are key to the operation of the Wanaka Community Workshop. Every so often tools need replacement and also purchase additional and new tools. This week the Workshop took delivery of a fancy battery powered stabler. We have other stablers that do a similar job but this one fires in narrow stables. It…

The Hawea Christmas Wonderland opened this week. It’s a great example of what a strong and active community can achieve. The festive experience runs for 12 days. Don’t miss it! This year the Wanaka Community Workshop played a small role in creating the display. Estelle lead the design and fabrication of a unicorn. Its stunning…

It was down tools this week as the MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop enjoyed a get together along with some Christmas kai. Volunteers at the Workshop enjoy each others company. We vary our days with a variety of work projects as well as some “us” time. It was great to have partners along.…

The MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop are busy crafting over one hundred pest traps for deployment around the Upper Clutha. Each is built from recycled materials except for the mechanism which is a new and of a Department of Conservation design. Production runs of this size enable the whole team to work shoulder…

Every Saturday from 10am to 4pm the woodshop at the Wanaka Community Workshop hosts a supervised session. On hand is an experienced supervisor who is available to help and provide advise to members of the Community Workshop wishing to undertake their projects. This weekend the work focused upon upgrading vans owned by visitors to Wanaka…

Every now and then the MenShed team escape. This week the team headed for Cromwell. We spent much of the morning at the Goldfields Mining Centre. After a wander about spotting relics we moved to getting down to action. We had high hopes for gold. Unfortunately our panning skills proved inadequate. Better luck next time!…

This week the Wanaka Primary School held their twilight fair. The event was not only a fund raiser for the school but an event to bring the community together. The MenShed team from the Wanaka Community Workshop contributed to the show via the provision of a range of sign boards. Simple sandwich boards and a…

The MenShed team from the Wanaka Community Workshop are always delighted to create projects for schools that serve communities across the Upper Clutha. Recently the team have delivered projects for schools from High Schools to Pre Schools from Tarras to Makarora, Wanaka to Hawea. This week a couple of us dropped into Hawea Flat Pre-School…

Team members from the MenShed this week visited Hawea Flat pre-school to measure up a new project. While on site we took the opportunity to catch up with customers of earlier work. The Guinea Pigs, our customers, seem pretty happy in their abode. A few weeks back we renovated their hatch and created a walled…

It always great to put ideas into practice. Over the last couple of weeks the MenShed team have created table games for kids and the elderly. Based on some images the game requires dexterity in moving a ball from one end of a box to another. Our testers aged 3 and 80 prove the game…

The produce stand which has been serving the Tarras community from a location outside the primary school will soon be back in service. Over recent days the stand has been refurbished by the MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop. Replacing timbers, installing dust covers and a paint job have resulted in a produce stand…

The MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop have recently completed a prototype shelter for skinks and lizards. The project follows attendance by members of the team of a form focused upon how each of us could support New Zealand’s native skinks and lizards. Discussion highlighted the role of cats predating skinks and lizards which…

The Wanaka Community Workshop greatfully receives a a wide range of donations – building materials, equipment, textiles and tools. We make use of such donations in the creation of products for a host of community groups and schools across the Upper Clutha. That said the Workshop does generate waste, material we cannot use because it…

Every now and then workshop equipment fails. Mostly its a quick fix but this time around the electric motor that powers our large table saw needed replacing. The table saw is a key tool within the wood workshop. As a result we are keen to have the saw operational. The MenShed team first looked at…

Our region is one of the worlds premier wine producing areas. Our team have recently been working to recycle materials key to the creation of great wine. Wooden barrel’s are the basis of some artistic and comfortable furniture. With little more than a photograph for guidance our team are using their skills to create a…

We love it when people drop into the workshop. We love it even more when they bring cake and sausage rolls! A few weeks back the MenShed team delivered some new play equipment and storage box’s to Hawea Flat Primary School. Today we received cake and sausage rolls in return. Great trade!

The MenShed team are well advanced in the creation of a produce stand for the Hawea Flat kindy. The produce stand will allow those families who have extra crops from their garden to share with those in short supply. Given the height of its expected cliental this stand is a smaller version of designs we…

Tarras Primary School has long managed a produce stand where locals can drop off and pick up vegetables and fruit grown locally. Its a great system. Recently the produce stand was delivered to the Wanaka Community Workshop. Over the next week or two the MenShed Team will undertake a program of renewal and refit. The…

This week the MenShed team are finishing a set of large wooden storage box’s for the Wanaka Art Centre. We love working with other community groups serving communities across the Upper Clutha. An important part of what we do at the Workshop is to aid community groups and schools achieve their outcomes. We do this…

We recently had delivered to the Wanaka Community Workshop a household item – a classic iron flying pan or skillet in need of repair. It needed a new handle to replace one which over time had loosened which meant the pan could spin about – not great when preparing breakfast! The team had not undertaken…

The Hub is a centre where the folk of Wanaka gather and through Community Link access a host of community services. Various groups host sessions that involve speakers and presentations. A key bit of kit for such gatherings is a lectern – something for the speaker to place their notes. Unfortunately the lectern at the…

Most of us have a story that involves a trolly. A classic toy from way back. This week the MenShed team completed a robust trolly for the kids who attend the Wanaka Montessori pre school. Made from recycled timber donated to the Wanaka Community Workshop we hope todays kids have as much fun with wheels…

It’s not unknown for members of the MenShed team to find themselves in the dog box. This week however the MenShed team completed a dog box designed to make life a little more comfortable for dogs visiting the Wanaka Recreation Centre with their master. The dog box provides shade, a water bowl, a comfy mat.…

Everyone enjoys cake – well almost everyone. A cuppa is a key element in our morning volunteer sessions at the Wanaka Community Workshop. Every now and then we also get cake. Its not often however we get a cake replicating the mountains with snow. Our team includes folk who create with wood, but now also…

While the MenShed team enjoy crafting stuff, we love seeing how this stuff is used. This week we delivered play equipment in the form of a mud kitchen and play bench to a kindy in Albertown. Great to see the kids reaction to their new gear. Makes life worthwhile.

Young students love story time and reading. Over recent weeks the MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop have created mobile storage racks for the large format books that are the basis for class stories. The latest examples are off to Tarras and Hawea. We love designing and crafting stuff that brings practical benefits for…

Storage box’s are useful. The MenShed team have created all sorts of box’s for all sorts of things. Many have gone to schools, others to community groups, firms and households. Some are large, others small. Most come with handles, some with lids. Each has be built from recycled materials. The box’s are a great item…

A pre school in Albertown will soon take delivery of a mud kitchen. Over the last year or so the team at the MenShed have designed and created a range of play equipment (including mud kitchen’s) for schools and pre schools from Makarora to Hawea, Albertown and Wanaka. Every item is built from donated and…

The Wanaka Community Workshop is one of a network of community and volunteer agencies serving the Upper Clutha. While we work to strengthen the wider community we also benefit from support by local households and firms. A key element of this support are the donations of tools, equipment and materials. This week the MenShed team…

Over the July school holidays the Wanaka Community Workshop hosted classes for those seeking to design and fabricate textile products. The program of sewing classes is part of the Workshops wider program of providing learning opportunities not just in the sewing room but also the wood workshop. We are on the lookout for more people…

Every job the MenShed team undertakes is special. No matter how large or complex or small and straight forward the stuff wee make for community groups across the Upper Clutha makes a difference. These trays for the Lions Club will be used to make things a little easier at events across our district.

The Tool Library is ready to go. The MenShed team have spent the last few weeks assembling the shed and preparing the tools. The Wanaka Community Workshop tool library will enable folk across Wanaka and the Upper Clutha to borrow tools for use at home. In this way we can avoid everybody have their own…

We get some unusual jobs at the Wanaka Community Workshop. Volunteers working within our sewing room are busy creating a unicorn. When complete the beast will be part of the long running kids Christmas experience at Hawea. The project has required some smart and innovative thinking. Who would have thought cricket leg pads would have…

Hollywood here we come! Over recent weeks the MenShed team have become prop makers for a range of school and community theatre productions. Works have included a ships mast complete with sails, four gondolas that would make Venice proud, various stages and the most recent; a stile that will be used in the upcoming production…

Winter has arrived! Our mornings often feature decent frosts. In response the MenShed team operating from the Wanaka Community Workshop every Tuesday and Thursday morning have moved inside. Hot drinks are pretty popular as well. Great to see the team remain active. We have a solid order book from schools in particular and are keen…

Over recent weeks the MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop have completed a range of projects for our high school – Mount Aspiring College. These projects have ranged from props for drama productions, staging for music and drama events, second hand uniform holder as well as a range of storage box’s. We are now…

The Tool Library located at the Wanaka Community Workshop is nearing completion. The building has been built. The tools have been acquired. We are now working on marking the tools so that those which belong to the library are easily identified. Look out for the new Tool Library. Details as to how tools can be…

Great to see Simon back at the Wanaka Community Workshop. Simon first visited as part of a MINT program but is now working on a project of his own. Great job Simon.

The MenShed team at the Wanaka Community Workshop are progressing a few projects for the Makarora Primary School. The projects include a mud / play kitchen, outdoor woodworking / play table and a outdoor storage box for play equipment. Later this month we expect to deliver the items. The Workshop is part of our community…

This week the MenShed team delivered to the Hawea Flat Primary School three mobile cabinets. Built from recycled materials each cabinet is designed to store a class set of large format reading books. We love working with schools across the Upper Clutha. If the school you are associated with would benefit from projects from storage…